News Releases

News Releases in 2006

June 22, 2006

NYK Launches NEXT-a New Visibility System

Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK; headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Koji Miyahara) has developed and launched a new visibility system, named NEXT, for support of supply-chain management for customers.

The previous visibility system could be used for individual functions such as order management, cargo tracking, and inventory management. However, NEXT offers more convenience to our customers by integrating all these individual functions into one system. The new system was jointly developed by NYK Systems Research Institute (NSRI; headquartered in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Takashi Nireki), which is an NYK Group company, and Nihon Unisys Ltd. (headquartered in Koto-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Katsuto Momii).

International logistics business models that include integrated global logistics services, VMI (vendor managed inventory),1 and cross trade have been becoming increasingly complex as the globalization of corporate activities accelerates. As a result of this shift in business environment, customer needs for logistics systems have become more diversified than ever.

The newly developed NEXT enables NYK to easily customize fully functional systems for customers and respond flexibly to various business models.

The Features of NEXT:
1. Information-retrieval function
Retrieval of information, such as invoices and order numbers, through use of keyword searches
2. Pipeline inventory management function Manage in-transit and on-hand stock, and delivery forecasts for each SKU (stock-keeping unit)
3. Purchase-order management function Manage order status (bookings, sailings, arrivals, and deliveries) of SKUs for purchase orders
4. Notification function Transmit alerts such as vessel schedule delays or information about stock shortages as well as normal event notifications

NEXT also has an EDI function with warehouse management systems and customers' ERP systems. Further, NEXT is a multilingual system that can be used globally.

NEXT can help customers quickly construct visibility systems, which are necessary for supply-chain optimization, without requiring a large initial investment. NYK and Nihon Unisys are considering selling this new system to general logistics companies.


1VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory)
Vendor managed inventory is a business model in which a supplier takes full responsibility for maintaining an inventory level of a material for a buyer. For example, a machine-parts manufacturer controls the inventory of parts at a buyer's plant, or a supplier manages the merchandising inventory for a retailer.


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